Falling Short of True Love
by Oparu
Summary: Regina's desperately in love with Maleficent, but she can't be what she needs. They shouldn't be together. Absolutely not. Mal deserves better. (or Regina tries her damnedest and fails to convince anyone, including herself, that she doesn't want love and everything else) Angst with a happy ending. Mal and Regina break up and get back together.
1. Chapter 1

"I don't think I can do this. I can't give you what you want. What you deserve." Looking at her aches like a knife in her stomach, but she owes her this. Look at her while she ruins her life, again. "And you shouldn't have to wait for me." Her eyes sting, and Mal's already crying. "You'll wait and that's not fair. I've already taken-"

"I don't care about that."

Of course she doesn't.

"That's why I have to end this." Regina shuts her eyes. Tears burn, then run hot down her face. "I can't be what you want."

"Regina, no."

"You should be happy."

"I am happy."

"No, no you're not, you won't be. It'll eat at you and it's just better if we stop now before-"

"You ruin my life?" Mal raises an eyebrow.

"It's not funny."

"If you knew the length of my life, dear."

"That's just the point. I'm not ready, I may never be ready for another child, and if you stay with me, you won't have that. You'll have to wait until-"

"You're gone and I replace you?"

"Yes."

Mal shakes her head, eyes liquid with tears. "Oh darling, it's not like that."

"You should be with someone who wants to raise a child with you. Someone who wants that now. I already put you in a cave for thirty years."

"And I don't care about that. I don't care about your darkness or your evil. I look at you and I see Regina, the woman who stormed into my castle, the woman who grew into her powers and then grew into her heart. You are astonishing."

She reaches forward, touches Regina's cheek, brushes her tears. "Letting you go will not change how I feel about you."

"I'm beginning to think nothing will." Regina leans into her hand, then kisses her. Her chin trembles and her resolve falters. She could let Mal talk her out of this. They could spend their lives together. Mal's patient, she'll wait for her, one day, she'll give in, she'll let her magic go and there will be a child. A little sister for Lily and Henry. A baby Maleficent finally gets to raise. She deserves that, but Regina can't give it to her. She's too tired, too broken. She loved Roland and he's gone, wanted to build a life with Robin and he suffered. Mal's already died once. Staying with Regina will only hurt her; ruin her chance at happiness.

Mal releases her cheek, takes a step back. She tilts her head. "I'll collect my things."

And it's over.

Regina can't watch her face, can't listen to her remove her things from their bedroom. She shuts her eyes, lets her magic take her far away before she changes her mind.

Before she's weak, once more.

* * *

Henry worries that he shouldn't talk to her, but that would be ridiculous. Mal lived in his house, helped him with his homework. He can't ignore her existence.

"Talk to her like you always do," Regina tells him, trying to be neutral. To be brave. "I broke up with her, that doesn't have to affect her relationship with you."

They have coffee, after school. Mal walks him home and stops, ever so politely at the gate.

She never walks to the door. Never pushes. Never demands Regina change her mind. Maybe that's what she wants. Mal to demand she reconsider, but she won't. She's patient.

Too patient. Too soft and suffering.

They still have to work together. Budget meetings are quiet, full of shuffling papers and hands that don't touch. Regina can't even sit at her desk because she remembers Mal's hands on her thighs, and laughing.

Mal's stopped drinking coffee. Three weekly meetings go by and she only has green tea (which she never liked before) and Regina shouldn't wonder. She should ask. This is her friend, her lover: the woman whose heart she broke.

She doesn't ask. She stares, watches Mal's face, studies her perfectly tailored suits and wonders if she'll wear something softer when she's pregnant. A month passes, dreamy and grey in the bleak end of winter. She sits by the fire on her own, reading books where the pages don't change. Henry brings her hot chocolate (no cinnamon, no chili) and the leaves turn to spring before her heart is ready to let go of the cold.

Mal, Emma and Lily eat together sometimes, and she passes them in the street. They smile, Mal nods to her and it's all very polite. Very calm.

She hates it. Regina wants to run to her in the street and scream. She doesn't. Grabbing Mal's shoulders and shaking her won't help either, but she wants to know. Is she pregnant? Did it work? Can she get pregnant here? Does she need something else?

After two whiskeys, she gets it out of Emma. Mal tried, three times before she gave up. She can't get pregnant like a human. She didn't think she could but-

"She tired. Guess she picked up on that hope thing from Henry." Emma swirls her drink. "She'd tell you this herself, if you asked."

Regina stares at the floor, her chest tight like iron. "I can't."

Emma raises her eyebrows, half choking on her whiskey. "That's bullshit."

"When did you become an expert on my relationships, Miss Swan?"

"When your ex started being my Friday night dinner date." Emma downs the rest of her drink and sets the glass on the table. "I'm not complaining, she's funny. Sad."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"She needs someone with magic." Emma pours another inch of whiskey into her glass and downs it fast while Regina stares at her own. "Which, makes it a pretty short list." She stands, looks Regina dead in the eye. "I know whatever happened is hard, and whatever you're feeling is harder still, but whoever wants to be a mother should get a chance to be one. You know I-"

Regina crushes the glass in her hand without thinking. Her skin's untouched, it's a cute little trick, and whiskey makes her palm smell like smoke.

"Regina? Hey, I didn't mean..."

"Good night, Emma."

"Would you talk to her?"

"And say what?" Regina rubs her hand against her dress, no longer caring about the whiskey. "I want her to be happy, even if that means raising our child without me? I'm not that selfless."

Emma reaches for her shoulder and other than Henry it's the first contact she's had with a person in weeks. Regina aches to lean into her, to cry and scream and release her frustrations.

But it's not Emma she wants to hold her.

"I don't think she wants it without you."

"Perhaps." She paces in front of the fire. "My actions took one child from her, trapped her underground and took thirty years of her life. I made you kill her."

"That wasn't your fault."

"I made the turnover, I put Henry in danger, I got Robin killed."

Emma rubs her shoulder, takes a step closer and Regina should take a step back, pull away and pull herself together, but Emma grabs her, hugs her tight. "Robin wasn't your fault. Maleficent dying wasn't your fault. Neither was Daniel."

Being held makes it all worse, and her heart rushes up into her throat and it hurts so much she can't breathe. She doesn't cry as much as she breaks, shatters like crystal. She barely makes a sound, but grief and regret vibrate through her.

Emma stays until Regina can breathe, then goes home to Henry and Lily and movie night and maybe Maleficent's there, arguing about special effects the way she does with Henry.

Not counting the fairies (fairies and dragons aren't compatible) there are four people with magic in Storybrooke: Zelena, Rumplestiltskin, Emma, and Regina herself. Mal wouldn't ask Zelena, and her relationship with the Dark One has never been that antagonistic, but never cordial either. Which leaves Emma, sweet, heroic Emma who wants to make everyone's lives better.

And Regina.

She spends a morning in her office trying to decide how she'll cope with her ex having a baby with her best friend. Emma peering over Maleficent's shoulder at the little blonde baby and Mal beaming with pride.

She's the one who can't drink coffee because she's so tense she's nauseated, and her thoughts crawl over her skin like rats. Mal should be happy. She deserves that baby, that promise of a future. She deserves everything.

Yet Regina can't think of her and a child with Emma without her fists clenching. She should be happy. She wants to be happy, but she can't. Can't even put away the spellbook where she found the spell the most be using. It'll be the full moon in two days and that's time, when the light is sweet and silver.

It's not like they're having sex. It's purely a donation. Nothing intimate. Emma's just doing what she does, giving back the happy endings. Returning what was stolen.

Even Lily's happier about i than Regina is. She laughs with Mal and Emma across the diner while Regina picks up her food. She sits next to Regina on the bench in the park and they eat ice cream and talk about the classes Lily's taking online.

Everything's fine.

Everyone's happy.

Henry drops the box of chocolate frosted donuts on her desk three days later. "You need this."

Sitting back in her chair, Regina smiles at him and it's the first genuine emotion she's felt since he went to school that morning. This is easy. "Thank you."

He sits down in front of the desk, donut in hand in a moment. "But, you're not hungry."

"I'm not."

He studies her, a hint of chocolate frosting on his lip. "It's not too late, you know."

"Too late for what?" Now she can't look, because even her son is on the other side.

"A happy ending." He sets his donut down on a napkin. "This is the climax, when the hero has to make a choice between what she thinks she deserves and what she wants, but it's not too late. Trust me, I'm the author."

"It's not that easy."

"You don't want easy." He tilts his head towards the spellbook. "You want something a little more complicated."

"It's too complicated."

He shrugs. "Only if you stop believing."

She could snap at him, because believing has lost her everyone she holds dear at one point or another, but this is Henry.

"I came back," he starts, leaning back with a smug look. "I came back from New York, and the dead, and Neverland. I love you, and you've never lost me. Maybe she's like that. Maybe you could be happy again."

"I'm not unhappy."

He laughs and tilts his head so much like Mal that her eyes sting. "That's crap, Mom."

"Henry, language."

"You're miserable and everyone knows it. Especially Mal. She misses you."

"She's free this way. She doesn't have to wait for me."

"That's not how she sees it." He finishes his donut, reaches across the desk and pats her shoulder. "See you for dinner, okay? Think about it. Maybe talk to her. When's the last time you actually talked, and not about budgets? You miss her just as much as she misses you."

"It's not that easy."

"You're a hero, Mom. You don't need easy. What you need, is a little faith." He grabs another donut and winks at her. "You're allowed to be happy. Even if it means I have to babysit."

The smell of chocolate and sugar makes her stomach churn in his absence. Her hands tremble when she sets the donuts aside and grabs her coat. The cool air will help, and even though it's her fourth cup of coffee and she should really stop, she wants to hold something in her hands.

Her meandering path takes her to Granny's then the docks, and the sea at least understands the cold grey misery in her heart. Henry's right, and she's known that since Mal moved her things out of the bedroom. This is wrong, being apart, doubting, being afraid, but she can't stop herself. It's the same self-destructive spiral of loathing and rage she's been on her entire life.

Of course she should be lonely.

Miserable.

"Emma said yes."

Regina shuts her eyes, sets down her coffee and wipes unshed tears from her eyes.

"I thought she would."

"The moon will be full tomorrow night, and I should be thrilled." Mal's presence at her side is so familiar that she takes a step closer without thinking. They should stand together, hand in hand, facing the sea and the storms and whatever else the world has for them.

"I know how much you want to have another child."

Mal looks at her hands, her long fingers tight on the wood, then meets Regina's eyes. "I said no."

Regina's heart thuds in her ears. "Why?"

"Because I want your child, not one on my own." Taking a breath steadies her. "I was alone with Lily, and it was bittersweet. You were missing. I want to rectify that as much as I want all the rest of it. I want to hear her cry and pick her up and watch her learn to smile, but I want that with you. I want you."

This is what she feared. Mal putting her before what she wants. Mal making the wrong choices, foregoing what her heart has ached for. This is what terrified her so much she made Mal leave. Her chest clamps down but at the same time, she's freed.

Mal knows. She has to know it's not fair, not right, what she'd be giving up. Regina takes a breath and trembles, hand at on her stomach.

She doesn't want to say it. "What if I can't?"

"Then I won't."

"No, no, that's not fair."

Mal laughs, almost crying, and the outburst makes Regina turn to stare at her. "What?"

"My heart doesn't care about fairness." Mal moves closer and they're too close, sharing the same air.

Regina's palms go slick against the damp wood.

Mal reaches for her hair, brushes it back, touches her chin. "I love you, Regina. You."

"But I can't be-"

Hushing her with a finger on her lips, Mal sighs. "Let me decide what I need." Mal's lips brush her cheek, too hot.

Regina shuts her eyes. She doesn't break.

At least, not on the outside.

* * *

"I said I needed time."

"And?" Snow's fingers hover on her cup but she doesn't drink.

"She's immortal, Snow. She said something wise and witty about having all the time in the universe, and I walked away."

Snow's cup clunks on the table. "Why would you do that?"

"Why?" Regina's asked herself the same question, over and over until she can't look at herself in the mirror. Maleficent loves her, and Regina loves her back, fierce and unforgiving. "You know why."

"She's not not Robin, or Daniel." Snow reaches out, seeking her hand and Regina grabs for her like a lifeline. "You just said it. She's immortal. She came back from the dead."

"She wasn't really dead." What Snow understands about dragons could be written on her coffee cup. "She doesn't die the way you or I do." Or Robin.

"Then that's good! She'll be here, you won't lose her." Snow's thumb rubs her hand and Regina needs that because she can barely breathe. Can't sleep since yesterday when she let Maleficent kiss her before she walked away. Her dreams were warmth and laughter and she woke up covered in sweat.

Snow's other hand wraps around Regina's trembling one, holding her tight. "Why are you so afraid to be happy?"

Blood rushes in her ears, but Snow's question remains, echoing in the empty pit of her stomach. Why are her hands shaking? Why does her coffee taste of metal? Why can't she breathe?

"Everyone who has ever loved me has suffered. You know that most of all."

"We forgive you." Snow lifts her hands, kissing the back of her fingers. "Maleficent forgives you too."


	2. Chapter 2

Oddly, no one dares tell her what to do. Emma's supportive, smiles and pats her shoulder and wants to help so much that it glows in her face. Saviour of all, even a heartbroken dragon who fell in love so long ago that it's like the ribs encasing her fragile heart or her trembling fingers.

She wants a child. Wishes for that spark of magic at the beginning, the weight of life beneath her sternum and to touch a tiny hand with her fingers. She only saw Lily as an infant for a moment, and that haunts her dreams.

Lily didn't understand at first, and perhaps it helps that they're here, where Emma's parents are her own age and she already has a brother, so Mal's longing seems less selfish.

"You can't raise me again, I get it. I do. I just-" Lily drags her hand through her hair, and shuffles her feet. "Is that enough to give up what you want? Who you want? You love her."

"Love is complicated, dear."

"You want to be with her."

"She doesn't think it will work."

"And that's just it?" Lily's close to her suddenly, too close in that instantaneous motion that she's been trying to practice and just hasn't been able to get. She's too fraught to notice. "You can't give up."

"It's not giving up."

"Oh fuck that patience shit." Lily flings her hand towards the tree and fire flies from her fingertips.

Mal nods at the fireball. "Good."

"Yeah?"

"Much better control." Mal smiles at her for an instant, so proud that Lily can master not only being a dragon but what she's inherited of Regina's powers as well.

Lily stops, grabs her shoulder and they stand facing each other, alone in the deep woods. "Control is good for magic, but sometimes it's the last fucking thing you want in life. Control keeps us away from what we want, shuts down our feelings. You love Regina, like, write her poetry and stare into her eyes all day, love her. Control isn't getting her back."

Blinking at Lily, her daughter, their daughter, the most wonderful creature to breathe, Mal sighs. Control and patience are all she has. She'd been alive too long to still have the resilience of youth, Lily in time would learn a little of it too. Control keeps her safe, protects her heart from heedless infatuations and heartbreak, allows her to keep putting one foot in front of the other when all she wants to do is stop the world from spinning. "Regina doesn't want me."

"That's bullshit, and you both know it."

"We wouldn't be good together."

"Total fucking bullshit." Lily tosses another fireball into the air, and they watch it together, soaring up into the gray sky. "Next ridiculous reason, please."

Mal shuts her eyes. Her tears don't even sting anymore. They're comforting and warm against her skin. "I doubt I can dredge anything up you'll agree with."

"Then why are you here?" Lily nudges her shoulder then throws up her hands. "Go get the girl, Mom."

Laughing, Mal rubs her tears from her face. "Regina works until at least six."

"Then bring her dinner. Henry's with Emma tonight. She'll order in like she usually does." Lily smirks. "Insider diner knowledge. She doesn't cook when he's at Emma's, and Granny's got a great kale soup. She'll love that."

"I suppose at least she'd eat." There's no danger of the soup being thrown at her for her presence. They're not that kind of former paramours, like the ones she keeps seeing in movies. They've known each other too long, loved each other through too much ever to be truly angry. It warms her chest with hope.

"That's the spirit." Lily stares at her boots and the dirt of the path. "She's been stressing way too much. She needs to eat something."

Mal chuckles because that was innuendo and Lily was comfortable enough to make it. "Now you're just teasing me."

"You can't tell me you're not lonely. Whenever I break up with anyone, I'm miserable afterward, like I'm crawling out of my skin." Lily flushes pink and can't meet her eyes. "And other stuff."

"Quite." Leaving a very satisfying sexual relationship for an empty house and a few indifferent experiences in a tiny hospital room sounds positively idiotic when one thinks of it that way, but perhaps that too is part of the control Lily despises. She can wait. She doesn't need. She won't allow herself.

She went too far before, lost years of her life and needed Regina to bring her back. Losing Regina hasn't meant losing her flame or the kind of aching depression that she buried in the sleeping curse.

Maybe it's because Regina isn't really gone. She's three houses down, and they see each other in the office almost daily, and she sees Henry enough to be like a third mother.

Mal lies awake at night, wondering what the stars would say. They seem to be all that understands her because everything else races in this world. Their stillness is the only thing that reminds her of the old world (other than the smell of Regina's hair, and the sweat of her neck).

Lily rubs her arm. "Try and work it out, please? You love her, she's definitely still in love with you, and you guys were happy. You were cute. It was nauseating."

"I hear having your parents be romantic can be so."

Emma complains of it lovingly, and for a moment before, Mal had wondered if Lily spoke of her mothers in the same fashion.

"Seriously." Lily rolls her eyes. She takes Mal's hand, starting them moving again. "You know, I'd be willing to share that with a little sister if I happened to have one. Someday. No rush."

* * *

It takes only moments to discuss the evening with Henry. They need space to talk, quiet, and Henry keeps a secret as terribly as his grandparents. Mal's standing in front of Regina's house, dinner in hand, when her phone buzzes.

Emma wishes her luck.

 _Be happy. Get the girl. Find your happy ending._

All of that cheer is something for heroes. Knights and princesses and virtuous shepherds get true loves, fated romances. Evil Queens, no matter how they attempt to redeem themselves, seem to find pain and death.

And no one writes love stories about dragons. Her own people don't have tales they hand down of couples who defy the odds and the stars to end up together. No one defeats the darkness with true love's kiss, snout to snout. She almost laughs at herself, taking the steps to Regina's door. This is a different kind of love story. It's messy and complicated, full of stops and starts, and there are no rainbows when she kisses Regina.

At least, none anyone else can see.

Mal rings the doorbell, standing straight as if she could be unafraid. She waits before the silent, dark house until the lights of the Mercedes fill the driveway. Glancing at her watch, she sighs. Almost seven, and far too late for Regina to be returning from the office.

Regina swore she'd ask for help if she needed it with the power plant upgrade. Mal shakes her head and teleports herself to the carport.

"I brought you dinner."

"Mal!" Regina locks the car, then rubs the back of her neck. "To what do I-?"

"I wanted to talk, and I thought you might be tired when you got home." Mal shrugs and lifts the plastic bag as a peace offering. "I know you don't like to cook when it's just you."

Regina drops her hands to her stomach, holding her keys against her chest. They're still in the garage, just standing, staring as if they're supposed to be here. "That's not true."

"Sometimes we didn't cook when it was you and me."

"Then we had good reasons." Regina still hasn't moved, but she smiles, weary and kind. "I miss you."

"And I you."

Sighing, Regina shuts her eyes and waves at the door behind Mal. "Come in, please." She starts for the door, and Mal stops her with a little smile. She's forgotten.

"I still have a key."

"For emergencies," Regina adds, relaxing her hands just a little. She starts to speak and sighs. "I worried you might want to give it back."

Mal's heart skips in her chest, threatening to leave her breathless and still as stone. "It was a kind gesture, to leave me a way in." Regina's gaze warms her before she turns, unlocking the door and letting them both in. It's dark and still, like a tomb without Henry: an empty castle for a lonely queen.

She shouldn't have left. Should have fought Regina, resisted their time apart, but she's worn: tired as the frozen river, and it is too easy to wait for spring instead of fighting free of the ice. She owes this to Regina.

To herself.

Regina sets her keys down where she always does, and Mal follows her to hang up her coat. They pass each other in the dark, slipping neatly through the dance of putting everything away. They've done this enough that it's familiar. This is home and her heart soars as if the ground could fall away beneath her.

The lights snap on and Regina tilts her head towards the kitchen. "It's just us."

Mal slips out of her boots and Regina leans against the wall to remove her own. Her feet pad across the wood, soft in black socks. This Regina is the one she misses most acutely. Regina who takes down plates and smiles shyly over the silverware, who touches her back when she passes behind her and chuckles when the cork pops. Tiny drops of white wine hit the marble countertop, a small sacrifice for their happiness.

They sit across from each other, perched on stools with glasses of wine. Regina asks about Lily, and work, and they slip easily into discussing the town as if nothing is wrong, as if they'd never parted.

It's easy, and calm, like leaves falling. Time passes, and kale disappears behind Regina's bright red lips.

They should be on her neck, kissing down Mal's chest. Regina toys with her wine glass, fingers brushing the cool stem and those should be on Mal's back, running down her spine.

Mal lifts her own glass and Regina's gaze doesn't leave her mouth. Work is nothing important, so they cling to that, like driftwood on the frigid sea, but they shift beneath the surface, leaning closer, falling easier into old habits. Softness and familiarity envelop them, burying them both in the fog of complacency.

They could be friends and colleagues: protectors of the town and keepers of the paperwork.

Metal clatters when Regina drops her fork. "Sorry." She slips from her stool and Mal moves around the island, using magic to slip between heartbeats. Grabbing the fork before Regina's hand reaches it, she smiles when Regina's fingers find hers. Skin on skin burning as if they've shared contact with an ember.

"I miss you."

"We can't."

Reaching for Regina's cheek, she holds her. Fork forgotten. "I think we can."

"It's not fair to you."

Mal chuckles, tracing Regina's chin. "You know what I've learned here? In this world, dear, life is not fair. Sometimes, you share love that you don't feel you deserve."

"You-" Regina pauses, her voice cracking, "-deserve better."

"I'm a dragon, dark and terrible. I'm a living flame that knows no mercy." She leans close, her heart thudding hot. "Perhaps I deserve my deaths." Tasting Regina's lips, she lingers before she pulls back.

"You are so much more than that." Regina drags them both up, pressing Mal against the island. "You are kind and patient. You are not claws and teeth."

Leting her hand drop to Regina's chest, she rests her fingers against silk and skin. Regina's heart beats beneath her palm, steady and strong. Time slows to the space of a breath, crawling into eternity. Mal drowns herself in Regina's eyes, letting her fears slip away. "And you're not a grim spectre of death, dear. To me, you are light."

"How can that be?"

Mal kisses her softly, drawn to her warmth. "We believe."

Gasping against her mouth, Regina shudders, then presses in. "In what? If you haven't noticed, being my soulmate is a death sentence."

"Then allow me to choose my fate."

"No, Mal."

Regina's head falls to her chest and Mal holds her close. She leans into Regina's dark hair and whispers, "I choose you. Whatever morsel of time I have with you is worth a hundred deaths. I know. I've already had one."

"I'm not worth that."

Crouching down, Mal lifts her chin, finding her eyes. Their tears mirror each other in glistening trails, and Mal shakes her head, baring her soul. "You are to me."

This time Regina kisses her, crashing their lips together. "What about a baby?" she mutters through kisses. "You want a baby."

Resting her hands on Regina's hips, Mal sighs contentedly. "So do you."

"I don't know if I can."

"No one does. It's normal to be afraid of the future."

"Henry-"

"Is the best young man he could possibly be."

Regina's fingers brush against the back of her neck, tugging her closer. "You know what he said?"

"Something wiser than his years."

"He'll babysit." Regina balances her hands on Mal's shoulders. Talking should wait, and they'll muddle through, but they need to touch. "He believes in us."

"He believes in the best in everyone."

"Is that what we are?" Regina's hands crawl up her sides, maddening through Mal's thin shirt. "The best of each other."

"Perhaps that is what we should aspire to be."

They kiss again, hungry and sweet. Regina's lipstick smudges against Maleficent's own and they tug each other closer.

"Okay."

Mal's laughter breaks the kiss. "Okay?"

Regina holds up her hands, trying to catch her breath. "We're not soulmates. We're most certainly not true love, and maybe that's all right. None of those things have worked for me so far, however-"

Mal raises an eyebrow. "However?"

Taking Mal's face in her hands, Regina chuckles. "Perhaps you and I are worth an exception."

"Is that your choice?"

Regina nods, eyes shining, and whatever she says is lost in the rush of emotion. The ice cracks, and the sun bursts over the trees and winter is gone. Regina is hearth and home and fire, burning warm and safe. "I know what I want."

With that, buttons are the enemy, and cloth a barrier neither of them wants. They free each other from that as they've shed the bonds of doubt and fear. Regina's mouth closes onto her neck, nibbling down. Together they lift Regina up onto the counter, opening her legs. Mal slips her panties down over Regina's hips, pulling them free of her skirt.

"This isn't going to get you pregnant," Regina teases, dropping her voice.

Mal kisses her knee, pushing up Regina's skirt. "No, but it'll be fun."

Regina's hand digs into her hair, she bites her lip and that little moan is all the encouragement Mal needs. She kisses her way up, lifting Regina's knees and parting her legs. Her fingers slip against the wet heat of Regina's body, and they moan together, wanting.

Needy.

Regina's nails run over her bare shoulders when Mal leans down, lowering her mouth. Regina gasps, bucks, shifting her hips into Mal's hands so her fingers slide deeper. She toys with Mal's breasts, abusing them while her gasps of pleasure echo in Mal's ears.

"Harder, there-"

Sex can be many things. Heavy and rolling, like a summer storm, or soft as the dawn, but this is joyful, fingers against familiar skin, lips meeting and breaking. Regina's cry of release slips easily into laughter and then they're wrapped around each other, half-undressed, damp with sweat and tears.

Regina kisses her face, over and over, taking her tears. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not."

"You're not?"

Slipping from the counter, Regina peels off her skirt and drops that to the floor with the rest of their clothes. Naked, gorgeous, Regina walks her into the fridge, hands against her stomach. "You didn't miss me?"

Whimpering when Regina slips her thigh between her own, Mal digs her claws into Regina's arms. "I missed you desperately."

"But you're glad."

"I'm not sorry."

Regina's fingertips roll over Mal's breast, teasing. One of Henry's permission slips flutters down from the fridge, knocked loose by Mal's elbow.

"You're not sorry we broke up and were miserable for months?"

Nuzzling Regina's neck, Mal nibbles and pulls away, retreating towards the living room. Regina catches her wrist and then they're kissing again, mouths together, skin against skin and Regina leads her to the sofa because they won't make it up the stairs.

Regina taunts her, fingers sliding up her thighs. She aches, shifting closer to the promise of release. It doesn't have to be good, or long, or perfect. Now is all she wants. "I'm not sorry now."

"Right now?" Regina toys with penetrating her, teasing.

"Not right now." She bites her own lip, whimpering again. "But a moment ago."

Regina pauses, holding her on the brink. "There were things we needed to say."

Meeting her eyes is eternity, past and future, stretched out in front of them, full of sorrow and promise. "I love you."

Squeezing her thigh, Regina chuckles, and kisses her way towards Mal's ear. "That you've never had a problem saying."

Regina's fingers slip inside, firm and deep and Mal can barely breathe because she hasn't been touched, hasn't felt like this. She couldn't. Without Regina, nothing burns as brightly.

Merciless, Regina toys with her, working her up, sucking her breasts and teasing with her thumb on Mal's clit. Flames burst in her vision, in her chest.

"I love you," Regina whispers, and the words hit harder than orgasm.

Regina's half in her lap and they can't stop staring at each other, beaming with brimming hearts.

Naked souls.

After that, their evening is each other, wrapped in blankets in front of the fire, reaching and touching. Regina runs her fingers through Mal's hair as the set aside the empty bottle of wine. They've kissed until Mal's lips are swollen and all of Regina's lipstick is gone. Regina traces the bite mark on Mal's shoulder and shakes her head.

"That almost looks like it hurts."

"I doubt anything could hurt right now, between you and the wine."

Regina rests her hand on Mal's chest, right over her heart. There's a pale scar on her ribs, what's left of her death at Emma's hands. "It'll just be you and me in the morning."

Nodding, Mal sighs, utterly content. This is home, more than anywhere else has ever been. "None of my clothes are here."

That earns another laugh and Regina kisses her chest, just above the scar. "I seem to remember you volunteered to take them."

"It only seemed polite."

"Your half of the closet is still yours," Regina says, curling in close. "I couldn't fill it."

Mal kisses the top of her head, her chest liquid with warmth and affection. "Oh?"

"It just didn't seem right."

"You knew I'd be back."

Regina lifts one of Mal's hands, kissing her knuckles. "I guess I did."

"Perhaps you're where Henry gets that from."

"Me?" Nibbling her breast in protest, Regina rolls her eyes. "No, of course not."

"Of course, how could I think such a thing."

"I just didn't get around to it."

"In months."

"In months." Regina slips her hand down Mal's stomach, resting just under her navel. "This could take months."

"I hear it does."

"But I'll be here, the whole time."

Mal lifts her chin, covering Regina's hand with her own. "I believe you."


End file.
